MSNBC host Joe Scarborough thanked President Donald Trump for the listening session he convened Wednesday with school shooting survivors, saying "it was the White House who got it right by listening."

"I haven't said this very often since the president was sworn in, but thank you Mr. President for what you did [Wednesday night] and letting these people speak," Scarborough said Thursday on "Morning Joe."

"The president allowed the dialogue," he said.

Scarborough also dismissed the scrutiny surrounding the note card Trump was photographed holding during the session.

"Guess what, I don't care what notes he was holding – what I care about is there was a conversation," Scarborough said. "[Wednesday night], it was the White House who got it right by listening."

"Arming teachers is genuinely a bad idea; even police officers with the best training panic," Scarborough said. "If there are more guns in schools, there will be more gun deaths.

"Despite that, I thought it was remarkable," Scarborough said.

The former Republican congressman also applauded Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., for showing up at Wednesday night's town hall in South Florida hosted by CNN, even if he did not like his answers.

"I was bothered by Marco Rubio, who continued to give the same old pat answers, but Marco Rubio showed up," Scarborough said.

"He stood in the fire. He stood face-to-face — and I hated his answers — but he stood face-to-face with a father [Fred Guttenberg] who lost his 14-year-old daughter," Scarborough said. "He stood face-to-face with students who lost their friends. He had the courage to be there, which is so much more than you can say for [Florida Gov.] Rick Scott."